California man accused in Kansas ‘swatting’ death waives extradition

3drenderings/iStock/Thinkstock(LOS ANGELES) — A 25-year-old man wanted in Kansas for allegedly making a hoax 911 call that led to the killing of an unarmed man by police has waived extradition proceedings in California.

Tyler Barriss, of South Los Angeles, appeared before a judge in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, five days after being arrested on a fugitive-from-justice warrant for allegedly making the so-called “swatting” call. Barriss acknowledged that he is the person wanted in Kansas, and he waived his right to an extradition hearing.

The warrant, filed by Los Angeles County prosecutors, says Barriss was charged in Kansas on Dec. 29 with the felony of making a false alarm.

Kansas authorities have until Feb. 2 to pick up Barriss, the judge said. In the meantime, he remains held without bail in Los Angeles County. It’s unclear if he has a lawyer.

Barriss is accused of prank calling police on Dec. 28 about an alleged shooting with hostages at a residence in Wichita, Kansas.

The incident began around 6:18 p.m. Central Time when authorities there received a 911 call from a man who said he had shot his father in the head while his parents were arguing. The caller also said he was holding his other family members at gunpoint inside the home and was thinking about setting the house on fire, police said.

The caller repeatedly gave authorities his alleged home address, leading Wichita police officers to the house.

Upon arriving at the scene, officers surrounded the front of the house, preparing to make contact with the caller inside, police said.

A 28-year-old man opened the door of the home and was told to raise his hands and walk toward the officers — a command he obeyed for “a very short time” until he moved his hands back down to his waist, police said.

The officers ordered him again to put his hands up but the man lowered them down again, police said. As the man turned toward officers on the east side of the home, he lowered his hands to his waistband and suddenly pulled them up to the officers, police said. That’s when an officer on the north side of the home fired one round, striking the man.

Officers then entered the home and found four individuals inside alive and unharmed, police said.

The man who was shot was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead Thursday night. Police didn’t find any weapons on him and officers learned he did not make the 911 call, according to Troy Livingston, deputy chief of the Wichita Police Department.

No one else was injured during the incident, police said.

Police have not yet released the identity of the man killed in the incident. But Wichita resident Lisa Finch identified him as her son, Andrew Finch, in an interview with reporters Friday morning. Lisa Finch said that her son was a father of two young children, according to The Wichita Eagle.

Livingston said investigators believe the prank call was a case of “swatting,” in which a 911 caller intends to deceive law enforcement about an alleged serious emergency.

The officer who fired the shot has been placed on administrative leave, which Livingston said is standard protocol. Livingston did not name that officer but said he’s a seven-year veteran of the department.

Police have released audio of the 911 call as well as seven seconds of grainy footage from a body-camera worn by an officer standing next to the one who fired the shot.

The Glendale Police Department in Los Angeles County confirmed to ABC News that Barriss made about 20 calls to universities and media outlets throughout the country around the time he was arrested for a bomb threat to ABC station KABC in Los Angeles in 2015. Barriss received a two-year sentence, court records show.

Glendale police said since the calls were made around the country, the FBI would take the scope of the cases. The FBI said in a statement to ABC News Tuesday night, “The FBI worked with Glendale PD based on a series of threats allegedly made by Barriss in/around 2015 and deferred to the state to pursue prosecution, as is the case in many swatting-related matters involving local police.”

Barriss pleaded no contest to two felony charges of false report of a bomb and malicious informing of a bomb in May 2016 in relation to the bomb threat made to KABC. He was sentenced to two years and eight months in jail, court records show.